What inspired you to become an author?
I’ve loved books my entire life. I was the girl that stayed up reading all night instead of sleeping. I wrote poetry as a teenager which was a perfect vessel to capture the emotions of those tumultuous years, but I didn’t think about writing a book until I was almost 40. I had a mid-life crisis of sorts, wondered what exactly I was doing with my life, and had a lightbulb moment in the shower that led to the idea for my debut horror novel, Transcendence. I’ve always been drawn to horror and the supernatural, so writing a horror novel seemed like a good idea. Once I started writing Transcendence, I became obsessed with the telling of the story. I can’t imagine writing not being a part of my life at this stage of it. I feel like I’m finally doing what I should be doing.
Do you write in different genres?
I’m drawn to horror and envision most of my writing falling into that genre. However, I’m pretty sure there’s a romance novel somewhere inside of me that will come out one day, maybe under a pen name, maybe with horror elements to it.
How did you come up with the title for your latest book?
I have no idea. It just came to me one day early on when I was writing Transcendence and it felt right. It’s been the title ever since.
Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
There are quite a few messages buried in Transcendence. Some might be more obvious than others. The overarching theme is that love always wins. No matter how messy life can be, how hard and cruel it can feel, there’s also moments within it of breathtaking beauty. Life is about experiencing both, never giving up hope, and always, always, always, hanging on to the love.
Is the book, characters, or any scenes based on a true life experience, someone you know, or events in your own life?
Alexis’s first few meditation scenes are loosely based on my personal experiences when I started meditating. When she’s visualizing her chakras, the color and the mantras, those are methods that worked for me. The very first time I meditated and saw something I knew was not the workings of my own brain, I saw the universe, spread out in all it’s glory (just like Alexis). They say, “write what you know.” In some ways, I did. Although I’m happy to say, no demonic entity followed me ‘home.’
If this book is part of a series…what is the next book? Any details you can share?
It was when I was reaching the end of writing Transcendence that I realized the story didn’t end there. It feels like a trilogy and probably will be. I’m currently working on Convergence, the sequel to Transcendence. It focuses on two side characters, Linda and Mrs. Bates, their messy relationship and how what transpired between them 30 years ago ties into the events at the end of Transcendence. It’s heavy on the witchcraft, dives deep into why Mrs. Bates is the way she is, involves a murderous and angry god, and continues Demetria’s story as well. I have a feeling the third story in this series focuses primarily on her, but things may change as I write the second book.
Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
It’s important to me to capture the emotional complexity of my characters. I don’t want you to just read about them, I want you to feel them. Sometimes, digging into that emotional complexity can be exhausting. In the sequel I’m working on now, not only are we dealing with present day, we also time jump to 30 years ago, so I’ve set myself a difficult task of not only capturing who Linda and Mrs. Bates are today, but also the different people they were 30 years ago. It’s a struggle but a rewarding one when I think I’ve gotten it right.
Do you have a song or playlist (book soundtrack) that you think represents this book?
90% of Transcendence was written to the soundtrack of Tron: Legacy by Daft Punk. Highly recommend!
What would your readers be surprised to learn about you?
Aside from being a writer, I’m also a psychic medium. Much like writing, I didn’t discover this ability until I hit my 40s. Much like my main character Alexis, I questioned the shit out of it until I couldn’t question it anymore. Writing is my passion, but there’s nothing quite like connecting with the spirit realm to help people process trauma and pass on messages from loved ones. It’s a gift I wouldn’t trade for anything.
When you’re not writing what do you do? Do you have any hobbies or guilty pleasures?
I actually have a day job as an analyst. When I’m not doing that, parenting, or writing, I enjoy using my mediumship abilities to channel messages for people. I’m lucky enough to live near the ocean and find myself at the beach as often as my busy schedule allows.
Katrina Kimball
Genre: Paranormal Thriller, Dark Fantasy
Publisher: Rowan Prose Publishing
Date of Publication: April 28, 2026
ISBN: 978-1-961967-80-9
ASIN: B0F711QN1B
Number of pages: 348 pages
Word Count: 85,482
Cover Artist: Rowan Prose Publishing
Book Description:
When a demonic entity seeking revenge starts tormenting her family, a young woman must rediscover their shared past and embrace her own divine power in order to save not only those she loves, but the creature bent on her destruction.
If you asked Alexis Ferelli what her biggest challenges are in life, she’d say it’s parenting her daughter, Luna, running her masseuse practice, and deftly avoiding conversations about marriage with her partner, Jack. At least, that was the case before she attended a séance. Now, the spirits are trying to contact her and there’s a demonic entity in her daughter’s closet.
Determined to find answers, she turns to the psychic from the séance and the spirit world for help. As she dabbles in the hereafter, she not only discovers another dimension filled with angelic guides, magic, and wonder, but also learns the shocking truth of her connection to the creature tormenting her daughter.
As the dark entity grows bolder and sets its sights on Jack as well as Luna, Alexis realizes that to save them all, she has to face the creature she once betrayed to bring it out of the darkness and back into the light.
Fans of Alix Harrow’s Starling House or Neil Gaiman’s Coraline will enjoy Transcendencs by Katrina Kimball.
Amazon Books2Read
Excerpt:
Luna woke to a tapping sound coming from her closet.
She knew closets weren’t supposed to make tapping sounds. She also knew that’s
where monsters hid, in the back of dark closets or under your bed. Maybe that’s
where aliens hid, too—waiting to catch you in your sleep.
The silvery light spilling through her parted curtains
and pooling on the floor did little to soften the shadows. Through the gloom,
she could see the outline of her closet. The door was shut. She cast a wary
glance at the windowsill and the visible line of salt that gleamed in the faint
moonlight. The salt was undisturbed, her window still closed against the night.
Tap, tap, tap.
She ducked under the covers and scooted to the far
side of the bed. Tucked into the corner with her back pressed against the wall,
she peeked out from under the blanket, her eyes glued to the closet.
Tap, tap, tap. The sound came again, swiftly followed
by the soft click of the closet door as it started to inch open.
As she lay there, huddled in the darkness, too scared
to breathe, a tall shadow, darker than the shades of night in which it had
hidden, slowly stepped forward. Its red eyes reminded her of Aunt Dani’s cawing
raven, the one with eyes like fire that scared you when you walked in the door.
But these eyes were worse. Bright red flames surrounded a pupil an even deeper
shade of red. And they were looking straight at her.
Frozen in fear, she watched as it glided closer, its
footfalls silent, its eyes terrible and bright.
“Hello, little doll,” it whispered.
Luna couldn’t tell if the thing had a mouth, for its
entire face was black except for its terrifying eyes, but she heard the words
just the same. A little voice in the back of her head was screaming at her to
move, but it was too late, the thing was now between her and the door.
She remembered the bowl of salt on the nightstand next
to her bed and finding her voice, tried to be brave.
“I am not a doll.”
“Oh, sweet child,” it sighed as it stepped into the
puddle of moonlight, impossibly tall and darker than the nighttime shadows, “I
shall make you my little doll. That’s all you’ll ever be.”
Its long arms ended in hooked fingers that looked as
sharp as claws. Beneath eyes of flame ran a jagged slit where its mouth should
be, as if someone had tried to draw a mouth, but had gotten it all wrong.
The scream that had been building for some time in the
back of Luna’s throat finally worked its way free as the creature reached for
her, talons grasping, eyes of flame leaping in the night.
She lunged for the salt next to her bed. Flinging the
bowl itself at the creature, her eyes widened as it sailed right through it as
if were truly just a shadow. Grains of salt flew through the air as the bowl
shattered violently against the hardwood floor.
The creature jerked its head in the direction of her
mother’s room and stared, its slash of a mouth widening into a gaping smile
that made her stomach hurt. She could hear her mother’s footsteps racing down
the hall.
Its head swiveled back in her direction, eyes alight
with fire as its hideous smile somehow grew. Tears slipped down her cheeks.
“I’ll be seeing you little doll,” it whispered as it
glided soundlessly back into her closet and snapped the door shut.
A horror enthusiast and lover of all things mysterious and unknowable, it was only a matter of time before author Katrina Kimball picked up her pen and mashed the paranormal, fantasy, and horror genres into one with her debut novel “Transcendence.” When she isn’t working on a novel or binge-watching shows about Bigfoot, ghosts, or aliens, she’s probably thinking about any one of those three things. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her two children and her adorable Boston Terrier, Beaux.
.png){kind=spacer}
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment